Forty-Niners Gold Rush

The miners, forever known as the forty-niners, produced the second gold rush in the USA in 1849. It started when the news of the discovery at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 spread around the world. James W. Marshall worked for Capt. John Sutter and entered into a partnership with Sutter in 1847 to build a sawmill on the South Fork of the American River. The sawmill was completed by 1848, and on January 24th while inspecting the tailrace he spotted something yellow glistening in the water. After many test performed, by both Marshall and Sutter, it was indeed determined to be gold. They both agreed to keep the discovery a secret, but the news soon leaked out, and the great California forty-niner Gold Rush took off with a roar. By the summer of that year some 2,000 miners were working along the river.

See http://www.goldprospector.org/forty-niners.html